Letv could be a refreshing new arrival
(in India) with an array of products and a vision to create an entire
ecosystem consisting of platform, content, device and application, a
company release said on Tuesday.

The Chinese technology company had
earlier announced that it would be launching at disruptive price points
more than one phones in January next year.

According to industry sources, the
company could be launching its superphones in January 2016, powered by
Qualcomm Snapdragon and Mediatek Helios X10 processors that support
incredible speed, stunning graphics, ultra-fast connectivity and longer
battery life so you can do more of the things you love.

The Mediatek inside the Le Superphones
enhances the performance of the phones by 10 percent, which enable users
to enjoy a superior 3D gaming experience.

The devices are seen as a game changer in the premium and value phone categories in India.

The company promises to equip its phones with industry best RAM to ensure zero lag even with intensive multi-tasking.

The company is currently holding
interactive meetings in multiple Indian cities to give a hands-on
experience to fans and tech enthusiasts of Le products that are to be
launched soon.

“The agreement will stimulate effective
exchange of information between the two countries which will help curb
tax evasion and tax avoidance,” a cabinet communique said.

At the G20 nations summit in Australia
in November last year, the leaders endorsed a new global transparency
standard by which more than 90 jurisdictions would begin automatic
exchange of tax information, using a common reporting standard by
2017-18.

The deal will not only allow the
countries to extract bank details for future, but they could also avail
account balance information of the past five to six years upon request.

“The proposal entails Bloomberg
Philanthropies to work as knowledge partner and support the development
and execution of cities challenge under the Smart Cities Mission,” an
official statement said.

The cabinet has already approved the Smart Cities Mission, launched by the prime minister.

The proposal under the Smart Cities
Mission seeks to facilitate creation of quality urban infrastructure
that will lead to improvement in the quality of urban life.

“Bloomberg Philanthropies Government
Innovation Initiatives equip mayors and local leaders with practical
tools and approaches to solve major challenges and enable public sector
innovation to flourish,” the statement added.

As knowledge partner, Bloomberg Philanthropies will also support the ministry in helping design and manage the cities challenge.

There is no financial implication for
the government, as the cost implications to the activities done in
supporting the mission would be incurred by Bloomberg Philanthropies, it
said.

The promoters, Oil Bidco (Mauritius)
Limited, have acquired 10.1 crore of the 14.25 crore shares held by
public shareholders through an offer, as against the requirement of 9.26
crore shares for delisting, Oil Bidco said in a statement here.

The shareholders tendered their shares
between December 15 and 21, through the reverse book-building window
made available under the delisting regulations.

While the floor price for the delisting
was set at Rs.146.05 per share, Oil Bidco has agreed to pay Rs.262.80
per share — a premium of 80 percent.

The Rs.3,745crore that will be paid to
shareholders makes this the largest payout to privatise a
publicly-listed company in India, Oil Bidco claimed.

The shareholders who have not tendered
their scrips in the delisting offer can do so at the delisting price for
a period of one year from the date of delisting.

Commenting on the transaction, Essar’s
founder chairman Shashi Ruia said: “We are happy that we have been able
to reward our public and institutional shareholders for the faith they
reposed in us over the years. I want to take this opportunity to thank
investors, stock exchanges and regulators for their support in this
journey.”

Over the years, Essar Group, through
privatisation of its corporate entities Essar Oil Ltd., Essar Ports
Ltd., Essar Steel Ltd. and India Securities Ltd., has made a payout of
over Rs.7,200 crore to investors, thus providing substantial returns.

With this transaction, Essar ranks among
one of the world’s largest privately-held conglomerates with
large-scale, world-class operations across the globe, spanning oil
refining and marketing, power, steel, ports, shipping, EPC and BPO.
Essar businesses have revenues of over $35 billion and employ more than
60,000 people.

Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises (MSME)
Minister Jogendra Behera said that MSMEs will be given a platform to
showcase their products and services along with an opportunity to imbibe
advancements in technology which will be displayed at this mega event.

Credit facilitation and information
dissemination for facilitating entrepreneurs in the sector would be
taken through banks and different agencies, he added.

Large industries will also participate
to identify potential suppliers, vendor development and downstream
activities and seminars and workshops on different themes or concepts,
buyer-seller meets will also be organized, said the minister.

The event is a destination for several
delegations comprising of buyers, participants and service providers
from various states all over India and has thus become a brand of
immense value and tremendous potential.

Behera said that in this fair, it is
proposed to have around 250 stalls for participation of MSMEs,
technology providers, large industries, banks and promotional agencies.

Looking at the scope and potential of
agro and food processing, tourism, handicrafts and handloom sectors in
the state, focus has been given to highlight the products and services
of these sectors, he said.

The West Texas Intermediate for February
delivery moved down $1.27 to settle at $36.6 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery decreased
$1.33 to close at $36.46 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

At the same time, there were some misses
as well, notably on the oil exploration front which still awaits the
new policy for auction of oil and gas blocks and the announcing of the
premium to be paid on natural gas for all new discoveries in difficult
deep-sea areas.

The government, late in the year, did
manage to circulate a consultation paper inviting comments, about easing
doing business in exploration that proposed to free domestic natural
gas pricing and replace the existing production sharing contract by the
revenue-sharing model for all future hydrocarbon acreage auctions.

The price of domestic natural gas fell
this year on applying the NDA government’s new formula for calculation,
and was cut 18 percent, from $4.66 per unit to $3.82 per unit, for six
months starting October 1.

What defined India’s petroleum sector in
2015 was the plunge in global crude oil prices driven by a supply glut
that saw the Indian basket of crude oils fall by over 60 percent from
levels of well over $100 a barrel to less than $35. While this reduced
foreign exchange outflow and improved the country’s current account
deficit position, producers piled up major inventory losses.

In the second half of the fiscal, the
government approved auction of 69 small and marginal oil and gas fields
on a new revenue sharing model, where bidders will quote the revenue
they will share with the government at both low and high ends of the
price and production band. The new revenue sharing model will replace
the controversial production sharing contracts (PSCs) – by which oil and
gas blocks are awarded to those firms which show they will do maximum
work on a block – that has governed bidding under the earlier nine New
Exploration Licensing Policy rounds.

Domestic gas producers continued the
wait for a decision pending from the year before. While approving a new
gas pricing formula in October 2014, the government had decided that new
gas discoveries in deep-water, ultra-deep sea or high-temperature and
high-pressure areas will be given a premium over and above the approved
price.

The year also saw Reliance Industries,
which had made four consecutive gas discoveries with close to 500
billion cubic feet of in-place reserves, surrendering its Krishna
Godavari basin gas discovery block, KG-D3, owing to operational
restrictions placed by the defence ministry.

Moving to the wider energio scenario,
the country’s electricity shortage also fell to its lowest level ever
from 8.5 percent in 2011 to 2.4 percent in October, while the peak
shortage dipped to 3.2 percent from 10.6percent, as per official data.

The focus, nonetheless, was in the renewable energy space.

At the beginning of 2015, the Government
has up-scaled by more than double the targets set for renewables at 175
GW by 2022 — which includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW
from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro-power.

“India is graduating from megawatts to
gigawatts in renewable energy production,” Prime Minister NarendraModi
said. India also made a commitment that 40 percent of its cumulative
capacity will be from non-fossil fuel based resources by 2030 if it gets
low cost technology and international financing.

At the UN climate change talks in Paris
last month, Modi launched an alliance of 120-odd nations to tap solar
energy better and asked the rich nations to shoulder their
responsibilities in protecting the environment, with funding and
transfer of clean technology to poor and emerging economies without
further delay.

Oil continued to slide, stepping up
pressure on India to acquire assets abroad and build its strategic
petroleum reserves at home.

The year closed with India signing major
deals last week with its time-tested ally Russia, where the former
returned after six years for a slew of oil deals worth around $2-3
billion. Rosneft, the world’s largest publicly-traded oil company,
formalised sale of 15 percent stake in its subsidiary Vankorneft to ONGC
Videsh (OVL) for $1.3 billion. The deal gives OVL access to
Rosneft’sVanko, Russia’s largest onshore field developed in the past 25
years. This was followed by agreements for giving OVL partnerships in
other onshore fields.

In December, the government allowed Oil
and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) to convert Rs.5,000crore of existing loans
to its overseas arm OVL, into equity in order to expand the exploration
and production business abroad, including by acquisition of oil and gas
assets. The company is currently running 36 projects in 17 countries and
has 13 producing blocks.

The year closed also closed with the
realising of a major milestone for the wider region by starting
construction of the long delayed 1,735 km-long gas pipeline from
Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India (TAPI).

Along with India’s Vice President Hamid
Ansari, others present at the ground-breaking ceremony earlier this
month in Mary in Turkmenstan were Turkmen President
GurbangulyBerdimuhamedow, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Highlights:

* Global crude oil prices plunge from well over $100 to below $35

* Nod for auction of small and marginal oil and gas fields on a new revenue sharing model

* Government proposes replacing production sharing contract by the revenue-sharing model for future hydrocarbon acreage auctions

* Electricity shortage falls to lowest level, from 8.5 percent in 2011 to 2.4 percent in October

* Target for renewable energy production more than doubled at 175 GW by 2022

A
major union in the banking sector, All India Bank Employees’
Association (AIBEA) apprehends the uniform service condition between the
State Bank of India and its five associate banks as sort of a precursor
for merger, said a top union leader.

The union on Thursday said it would go
ahead with the January 8 strike as the management of the five associate
banks of State Bank of India (SBI) is firm on implementing service
conditions unilaterally.

“We do have the apprehension that common
service conditions between SBI and its five associate banks is a step
towards merger of the five banks with SBI,” C.H. Venkatachalam, AIBEA
general secretary, told IANS on Thursday.

According to him, already there is
uniformity in technology, branding, work procedure, usage of ATMs by the
account holders of the six banks.

The five associate banks of the SBI are
State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Hyderabad,
State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, and State Bank of Travancore.

Speaking about the strike on January 8,
Venkatachalam said the conciliation meeting held on Wednesday by the
chief labour commissioner (CLC) in New Delhi was a failure.

He said the management of SBI’s five
associate banks remained steadfast on implementing the new Career
Progression Scheme (CPS) for their employees, violating the bilateral
agreement with the union.

According to Venkatachalam, the five
banks want to abolish permanent cadres like sweepers and outsoucre their
labour activity, but this cannot be done unilaterally.

In a statement on Thursday, the AIBEA
said at the conciliation meeting on Wednesday the CLC had advised the
management of associate banks to put on hold the implementation of new
service conditions.

The CLC also advised the bank management to find an amicable solution through mutual discussion.

The bank managements were not agreeable
to the CLC’s advice and the talks failed, forcing the employees to go on
a strike soon after the New Year is rung in.

“We also informed the CLC that IBA
(Indian Banks’ Association), having signed the settlement on behalf of
the banks based on their mandate, cannot remain a spectator when the
terms of the settlement are violated by any of the banks and has to play
its role to ensure proper implementation. Otherwise it would lead to
chaotic situation and result in serious industrial disputes and
conflicts,” Venkatachalam said.

The government announced last week that
Joaquim Levy would step down as finance minister and would be replaced
by Nelson Barbosa, the planning and budget minister.

Valdir Simao will replace Barbosa, Xinhua reported.

In the inauguration ceremony on Monday,
President Dilma Rousseff, who is battling the opening of impeachment
proceedings in Congress, thanked Levy for his efforts to carry out the
fiscal adjustments and praised his dedication, despite his failure to
achieve his goal of rebalancing the public finances.

“His dedication and efforts helped the fiscal regulations despite an environment of political crisis,” Rousseff said.

“Joaquim Levy revealed a great capacity of acting with serenity and efficiency even when under great pressure.”

The President said ministers Barbosa and
Simao now have the responsibility of convincing the Brazilian people
that fiscal balance and economic growth can walk hand in hand, and
ensuring the resumption of economic growth without resorting to sharp
changes.

“They both have more than enough
experience and competence. They know the public administration and
participated in most priority projects we implemented over the past few
years,” Rousseff said.

President Xi Jinping said the country’s
emphasis next year will be on supply-side reform, or a package of
supply-side policies to release new demand and boost new productivity,
the Global Times reported.

He was speaking on Monday at the
conclusion of the Central Economic Work Conference, which was held along
with the Central Urban Work Conference.

Economists said this means that China
will no longer seek to fuel economic growth solely by using fiscal and
monetary measures to boost capital investment, consumption and exports.

Instead, the government will be more
focused on devising policies which, from the supply side, are aimed at
helping the industries it wants to support. Outdated businesses will
also be phased out.

The Central Economic Work Conference has
pledged to launch a series of policies next year that have been
discussed for a long time, including more tax cuts, incentives for
specific industries, regulatory reforms and more aid to lift people out
of poverty.

This will be the first meeting between
Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin since the two had a formal
interaction at the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa)
summit in Ufa in July, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said at a media
briefing here on Tuesday.

“The visit will start with a private
dinner hosted by President Putin on December 23. The actual summit will
be held on December 24,” Jaishankar said.

He said Modi and Putin would also interact with Indian and Russian CEOs at the Kremlin.

“Then the prime minister would be
addressing a gathering of the Friends of India and the Indian community
at the Expo Centre in Moscow,” the foreign secretary said.

Modi will also visit the Russian Emercom
agency, a centre for national disaster management forces, where he will
be briefed on the real-time monitoring of civil emergencies.

“We have a very special strategic
relationship with Russia and this spanned key sectors such as defence,
nuclear cooperation and space,” Jaishankar said.

At the last summit held in New Delhi in
December 2014, both Modi and Putin had given a lot of attention to
expanding the economic pillars of the relationship between the two
countries and that would continue to be a major issue in this summit as
well.

In the New Delhi summit, the two countries also released a vision document called “DruzhbaDosti”.

Calling Russia an “old and trusted
partner of India”, Jaishankar said the two countries’ approach to a lot
of global and regional issues were very similar.

In the upcoming Moscow summit, he said, a number of agreements are expected to be signed covering a very range of fields.

“Our trade with Russia last year was a
shade below $10 billion and we hope in the next 10 years to really take
it up to $30 billion. So, expanding trade is a very big priority,” he
said.

“Similarly, mutual investments are roughly around $11 billion of each other. We hope to take it up to $30 billion by 2025.”

According to Jaishankar, a lot of work has been done to facilitate trade and improve the investment climate.

“There have been discussions and understandings, for example, on the customs side, movement of goods,” he said.

Last year’s initiative to exhibit and
promote the sale of diamonds has got off the ground and the Indian side
was giving a lot of focus on agro-products.

“We had discussions with Russia on the
Eurasian economic zone and the FTA (free trade agreement) with them. The
study for that has been completed on our side,” the foreign secretary
said.

He also said India has an understanding with Russia to build 12 nuclear power plants.

“That work is going on and the first
plant at Kudankulam has been built and is in the process of getting
connected to the grid,” Jaishankar said, adding that discussions were
going on between the two sides on the rest of the plants.

On the defence side, he said Russia has
been a very major military and strategic partner for India and there
would be a lot of discussions in this connection.

“Similarly, on the energy and natural
resources side, oil and even coal is an area in which we have a lot of
interest in working with the Russians,” he said.

Stating that Russia has been
historically an important technology partner of India, Jaishankar said:
“Whether it is in super-computing, whether it is in heavy engineering,
satellites on the space side and even in the area of renewable energy we
think we can do a lot.”

He said a number of global issues with current relevance will come up for discussions between Modi and Putin.

Promotion of tourism and facilitating travel for people of the two countries will also come up for discussion.

“We expect a slightly slower pick-up in
growth trajectory, given the trailing weakness from external demand and
concerns about agriculture growth, with related impact on rural
consumption,” Morgan Stanley said in a research note.

“We expect GDP growth (new series, on
market prices) to accelerate gradually to 7.5 percent in financial year
2016 and 8.1 percent in fiscal year 2017,” it said.

India is decidedly moving out of the
macro-economic adjustment phase and into the recovery phase aided by
government policy actions and the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary
policy response, the brokerage firm said.

However, it would be a “longer-duration
expansion cycle for India with low risks of overheating in the next two
years, considering the overall policy approach of the government and
RBI”, it added.

The report said the upside and downside
risks to the forecast will be influenced by two key factors – the pace
of policy actions to revive productivity dynamics and improve the growth
mix, and the strength of external demand recovery and trend in capital
inflows into emerging markets.

“We currently see risks to our growth outlook as evenly balanced,” it said.

Meanwhile, the government’s mid-year
review released last week sharply lowered the economic growth forecast
for the current fiscal to the 7-7.5 percent range, from the previously
projected 8.1-8.5 percent, mainly because of lower agricultural output
due to deficit rainfall.

It also said there may be a need to reconsider next year’s fiscal deficit target of 3.5 percent.

“The central sector scheme covers
development and management of inland fisheries, aquaculture, marine
fisheries including deep sea fishing, mariculture and all activities
undertaken by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB),” said a
cabinet communique.

The scheme has six broad components:
National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and its activities;
development of inland fisheries and aquaculture; development of marine
fisheries, infrastructure and post harvest operations; strengthening of
database and geographical information system of the fisheries sector;
institutional arrangement for fisheries sector; and monitoring, control
and surveillance (MCS) and other need-based interventions.

The umbrella scheme also provides
linkages and convergence with the shipping ministry’s Sagarmala Project,
the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and the National Rural Livelihoods
Mission.

“The Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs has given its approval for investment of Rs.5,000crore by Oil
and Natural Gas Company Limited (ONGC) into the equity share capital of
ONGC Videsh by conversion of existing loan of equivalent amount into
equity,” a cabinet communique said.

The approved investment will strengthen the capital base of ONGC Videsh, the statement said.

“It will enhance the ability of ONGC to
undertake overseas exploration and production business, thereby
improving the energy security of the country,” it added.

Early in the year, the country saw the
biggest auction of spectrum when the government garnered Rs.1.10 lakh
crore ($17.6 billion) to licence 380.75 MHz of airwaves in the 900 MHz,
1,800 MHz and 800 MHz and 2100 MHz bands across 17 out of 22 telecom
circles.

While the auction was welcomed, since
availability of spectrum was a major cause for concern, the high bid
prices proved to be a dampener.

“The outcome of the auction, in
whichever manner, eventually led to significant outflow of funds and
further burdened the industry, which remains under a debt of Rs.3.5 lakh
crore ($53.8 billion),” Rajan S. Mathews, director general of the
Cellular Operators’ Association of India, told IANS.

Mahesh Uppal, CEO of telecom consultancy
firm Com First agreed, but said: “The high demand for spectrum made
auctions was unavoidable. The challenge is to design better auctions
where there is less incentive to bid as high as last time.”

But the auction over two straight years
could not stop the menace of call drops. The problem took such a shape
that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi voiced his concern.
Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad even said he did not want to
be remembered as “call drop minister”.

The watchdog, on its part, also
intervened and in mid-October directed mobile phone operators to
compensate subscribers on call drops from Jan 1 at the rate of Re.1 for
each failure — a decision that left the industry upset with legal help
kept as an option.

There was also a related problem. Across
the country, many telecom towers became inoperational as citizens
started complaining that radiation emanating from it are health
hazardous. This took its toll on telephone connectivity.

“The government will have to help by releasing more spectrum and make it easier and cheaper to install towers,” Uppal said.

“Call drops will be resolved when
operators invest in enhancing network coverage. This, in turn, depends
on current availability of spectrum, as well as future roadmap in
receiving spectrum,” Romal Shetty, partner and head for telecom sector
with KPMG-India, told IANS.

India also tried hard to catch up with
the world in telecom technology. BhartiAirtel launched its fourth
generation (4G) communications services in 296 towns across the country.
Britain-based Vodafone launched the same on Dec 14, while Reliance Jio
was expected to do so anytime.

“The 4G ecosystem is still weaker than
3G. For example, 3G devices are cheaper and more numerous than 4G
devices. The 4G technology is new and expensive. The nature and size of
customer demand for 4G is unclear,” Uppal said.

“Internationally, it took three-four
years to roll out 3G and 4G services. We are not far back. Issues
causing delay have been obtaining towers, right of way, RoW (right of
way to deploy some crucial infrastructure) and power availability,”
Mathews said.

“The availability of affordable
smartphones has been another major constraint. Now that some of these
issues have been addressed, we should expect to see rapid roll-out of 3G
and 4G services,” the association chief added.

Another trending activity was tower sale
by various operators. Industrialist Anil Ambani-led Reliance
Communications signed a non-binding pact with the US-based Tillman
Global Holdings and TPG Asia to sell its nationwide tower assets and
related infrastructure for an undisclosed amount. Industry sources
valued it at Rs.22,000crore (nearly $3.4 billion).

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam also got
Cabinet approval to hive off its tower assets into a separate company.
BSNL’s chairman-cum-managing director AnupamShrivastava told IANS that
the valuation of it could be in the region of Rs.20,000crore ($3
billion).

Among the big ticket mergers and
acquisitions was Reliance Communications’ accord to acquire the Indian
telecom business of Russia’s Sistema, which operates under the ‘MTS’
brand, in a unique stock-cum-spectrum-fee payment deal.

The government also allowed spectrum
trading in India to help telecom companies to buy and sell unused radio
waves from each other, without waiting for the next round of auction.
Also, spectrum sharing was allowed by the government, which is expected
to improve the quality of telecom services.

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of
the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 25,697.66 points,
against the previous close at 25,590.65 points on Tuesday, was ruling at
25,844.46 points with a gain of 253.81 points or 0.99 percent.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE),
the broader 50-share Nifty was ruling at 7,859.25 points, with a gain of
73.15 points, or 0.94 percent.

On Tuesday, the Sensex, which had opened
at 25,731.07 points, closed with a loss of 145.25 points or 0.56
percent. Similarly, the wider 50-scrip Nifty closed lower by 48.35
points or 0.62 percent.

Most Asian indices also inched up on Wednesday.

“US indices ended the day firmly in
positive territory but off their highs for the session. The strength on
Wall Street partly reflected optimism about the possibility of further
Chinese stimulus following statements from government officials,” Angel
Broking said in an analysis ahead of the opening bell.

“An increase by the price of crude oil
also generated some buying interest, with crude for February delivery
rising $0.33 to $36.14 a barrel in its first day as the front-month
contract. European markets closed with mixed results as the gains and
losses were rather modest, due to the light trading action,” it said.

“The approaching holiday season has many
investors away from their desks. Energy and resource stocks were among
the best performing stocks. Indian shares fell on profit taking Tuesday
after the previous session’s rally and amid caution ahead of Christmas
break.”

It also allows touch in 360 degree to unlock the phone, with five fingerprints option available.

Installed at the back panel of the phone, LeTouch with mirror surface is anti-scratch.

Unlike painted sensors on most
smartphones in the market, which have only hardness as much as 3H, the
sensors on Le 1s boast a hardness of 6H, which does not hinder the
performance of identification at all.

Some fashionistas said this sensor could be used as a mini make-up mirror.

Available in silver and gold, Le 1s is
chic and elegant in appearance with in-built privacy security,
state-of-the-art technology and top-of-the-line features.

The all-metal body phone has a 5.5-inch full high definition 1920 x1080-pixel resolution display.

The Le 1s powered by Android 5.0, but running a custom skin called EUI that delivers an interface similar to Apple’s iPhone.

“Russian citizens too maintained
unwavering relations with India. And politically apart, the Russian
citizens have shown considerable interest in the Indian traditions and
India’s culture. And it makes our relationship stronger.”

Modi said that when he goes to Russia, “there is a thought in my mind that I have delayed the visit a bit”.

“But I am filled with enthusiasm that
I’m going to a friend’s house. And visit a friend, the feeling of
oneness, the emotions, I am feeling it.”

According to the prime minister, relations between India and Russia are linked together through the water, land and sky.

“Our defence source, defence power, in
all these Russia is associated with us for all those years. Similarly,
in the global environment, in times of crisis, where you need a friend,
Russia has always stood with us,” he said.

“We never had to wait to know what
Russia will do with us in this regard. We remain confident that we are
doing this, Russia will do it with us,” he said adding that an
atmosphere of trust continued between the two countries.

“And in this sense, our relationship, in one way is a new level of strategic partnership, which is taking us in that direction.”

The premier said he was “pleased to see where our relationship is today.”

“Russia was the first country with which
we concluded a formal agreement on strategic partnership, which has
since been elevated to the level of ‘special and privileged’ strategic
partnership in recognition of our multifaceted bilateral engagement,”
Modi said.

He said he saw positive signs of further growth owing to complementarities of both the countries.

“The strengths of Russia in science and
technology, military technology and nuclear energy to name a few,
complement the large market of India, expanding economy and demand of
its young population. This provides us with the confidence that we can
take forward our existing dynamic partnership,” the prime minister said.

According to Google India’s “2015 Year
in Search” results, Micromax and Lenovo smartphones captured three spots
each under “Top Trending Mobile Devices” and Samsung Galaxy S6 and Note
5 did not feature in the top 10.

Next is Moto G3 which was launched in
mid 2015. It features a 5-inch high-definition display with Corning
Gorilla Glass 3, Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor featuring a 1.4 GHz
quad-core CPU for seamless multitasking.

Following Moto G3 was Canvas Sliver 5.
Featuring Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman in its ad, Micromax claimed that
it is the thinnest and lightest phone in the world.

“We remain very committed to the
development of the hotel and tourism industry in Assam and beyond in the
northeast for we know the future lies to our east.

“We know we must develop the
infrastructure in order to develop the people and human capital of Assam
and the northeast. We are duty bound to do that,” Managing Director and
Chief Executive Officer, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, Rakesh Sarna
said here.

Speaking at the launch of the Vivanta by
Taj here, Tata Group chairman Cyrus P. Mistry hoped the hotel would
boost tourism in Assam and the region.

“It will spur tourism in the region: in Assam, in other parts of the northeast and neighbouring countries,” Mistry said.

India’s northeast, said Mistry, “will
also be a natural gateway for us and other Indian business to access key
markets with which India is building long-term relationships: Bhutan,
Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar and China”.

Assam Chief Minister TarunGogoi formally opened the hotel by unveiling a plaque in the presence of Mistry and Sarna.

Gogoi hoped Assam would emerge as the hub of not only the northeast India but also of the south Asian countries.

“The message to the whole world is peace
has returned to Assam… stability has returned to Assam. We want to be
the hub of not only northeast India but also southeast Asian countries.
There is a lot of potential. This Guwahati is definitely going to be the
hub of whole of southeast Asian countries,” he said.

Equipped with 150 guestrooms, the
hotel’s main pavilion is based on the famed Kamakhya temple in Guwahati
while the motifs represent Assam’s strong tradition of woven crafts.

The proposal was approved at a meeting
of the country’s cabinet committee on purchase with Finance Minister
A.M.A. Muhith in the chair in the capital Dhaka here on Wednesday,
Xinhua reported.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ruling
Bangladesh Awami League party said “Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant” to be
constructed in the country’s Pabna district, 216 km west of, was part of
the government’s vision to produce 20,000 MW of power by 2021.

The Bangladesh government on December 15
reportedly finalised the biggest ever investment project in the country
by inking an initial agreement with Russia.

“In view of the overwhelming response to
our road shows held across the country and overseas, we are setting a
realistic target of Rs.1 lakh crore from the GIM-Invest Karnataka 2016,”
state additional chief secretary Ratna Prabha told reporters.

In the run-up to the event, Karnataka
organised 72 Business to Government (B2G) meetings in Delhi, Mumbai,
Hyderabad, as well as the US and France identifying 12 focus sectors.

In the road shows in India, the state
received investment proposals worth Rs.25,000crore and is hopeful of
receiving more from domestic and overseas investors during the summit,
said Prabha.

According to an audit committee meeting
held on November 27, another Rs.36,193crore worth of projects were in
the pipeline, said an official statement.

Ci3’s newly launched Transmedia Story
Lab (TSL) will collaborate with leading non-governmental organisations
in Lucknow to train them in novel, youth-friendly data collection
techniques.

Together with their community partners,
Ci3 will conduct workshops with Lucknow youth aged 15-24 using games,
storytelling and art to learn more about the daily lives of young people
to better understand the social determinants of adolescent reproductive
health and well being.

Digital storytelling will anchor the project.

Digital stories are short, first person
documentaries produced with music, images and narratives of young people
communicating their daily lives, hopes and dreams.

The storytelling methodology helps to
paint a rich portrait of the lives of young people living in urban
slums, enhance the field’s understanding of gender and social norms and
create new insights for improving adolescent sexual and reproductive
health and reducing the unmet need for family planning.

Workshops will be accompanied by
interviews with policy makers, non-governmental organisations, parents
and healthcare providers.

In the second year, Ci3 will create a
small grants programme to invest in young people’s ideas on how best to
advance the lives of girls in India.

This project also reflects Ci3’s
commitment to developing novel partnerships. Ci3 will work with the
University of Chicago alumnus Sandeep Ahuja MPP ’06, director of
Operation ASHA, an international leader in tuberculosis (TB)
eradication.

Operation ASHA is known for its innovative approaches and outcome-oriented research.

Ci3 recently launched Transmedia Story
Lab which builds upon South Side Stories, a two-year project funded by
the Ford Foundation.

Culminating in the summer of 2014, South
Side Stories chronicled and digitally archived stories that countered
dominant narratives about African- American adolescent’s sexuality.

Founded in 2012, Ci3 is a
University-wide centre established to empower young people and remove
policy and systemic barriers to sexual and reproductive health and well
being.

Ci3 develops novel interventions using
technology, games and narrative in collaboration with youth, partner
organisations and University faculty.

“This project will be implemented under the inter-governmental pact between India and Russia,” a source said.

“Out of 200 Kamovs, some 60 will be made
in Russia and the remaining will be assembled and manufactured in India
under the public private partnership mode.”

State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is the lead for the Indian side.

Recently, Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar had visited Moscow and the Kamov project was among the items on
his agenda for discussions with the Russian side. Ahead of the visit,
the minister had specifically mentioned the Kamov project.

“For example, the project for joint
production of Kamov Ka-226 helicopter — I hope to use my visit to have
it inked on paper when the prime minister arrives. Also the purchase of
S-400 missile systems. We anticipate these projects to be coordinated by
next month,” he had said.

Pan Gongsheng, deputy head of the
People’s Bank of China on Wednesday urged commercial banks to provide
more credit resources for Tibet while risks are under control, Xinhua
news agency reported.

He stressed on diversifying financial
businesses and increasing branches in Tibet, and encouraging qualified
capital to establish small institutions like private and village banks.

More direct financing and financial
bonds are expected to facilitate enterprises, especially small and micro
businesses, in Tibet.

Liu Shiyu, chairman of Agricultural Bank
of China, said the bank has set up 511 branches in Tibet and will try
to establish financial services in all counties with access to highways,
electricity and phone signals by the end of 2016.

Heads of Agricultural Development Bank
and People’s Insurance Group also said there will be more capital and
policy support for Tibet’s local financing and industrial expansion.

“Tata’s personal investment in our
unique start-up is a testament to the market opportunity and calibre of
our team, which is building a valuable marketplace,” the Gurgaon-based
UrbanClap said in a statement here.

As a marketplace to hire professionals
for local services, the over-year-old start-up offers about 80 types of
services in six places – Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi
NCR (National Capital Region) and Pune – across the country.

The enterprises enables customers to get
services of various traders such as plumbers, electricians, carpenters,
a beautician, a yoga trainer, a math tutor or a wedding photographer.

About 25,000 professionals in diverse
occupations are registered with the firm, co-founded by Abhiraj Bhal,
Varun Khaitan and Raghav Chandra in October 2014.

“We are well positioned to create
thousands of jobs for service professionals and spawning a new breed of
micro-entrepreneurs,” the company claimed.

Prior to Tata investing, the company
raised $25 million from venture funds led by Bessemer Venture Partners
on November 19 in the second round and $10 million in first round from
Accel, SAIF partners and e-tailer Snapdeal co-founders Rohit Bansal and
Kunal Bahl.

“Anytime you negotiate an agreement with
more than 180 countries, there are going to be a lot of issues to work
through,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on
Wednesday.

“So, I’m not sure that that statement is
quite entirely fair to the Indians” to describe them as the “biggest
obstacle” to a climate change deal, he said.

“But there’s no denying that there has
been a concerted effort on the part of the United States, starting at
the level of the president, but also including the rest of our
negotiating team to seek common ground with the Indians,” Earnest said.

The US also sought “to reassure them
about our commitment to investments moving forward and helping countries
adapt to the impacts of climate change”.

It also wanted to make “sure that those
countries are demonstrating a commitment of their own to reducing carbon
polluting, and joining the rest of the world in the fight against
climate change”, Earnest said.

Asked if Obama in his call on Tuesday
with Prime Minister Narendra Modi previewed a proposal by Secretary of
State John Kerry to expand the amount of money available to developing
nations, the official said he didn’t have a more detailed readout of
their call.

But “I can tell you that, in general,
that US support both in the public sector and the private sector for
efforts to assist countries as they adapt to the impacts of climate
change is something that President Obama and Prime Minister Modi have
discussed extensively over the last several weeks and months”.

“This was something that was discussed
extensively when the president sat down face-to-face with Prime Minister
Modi just last week when they were both in Paris,” he said.

“So I wouldn’t be surprised if it came up in their conversation.”

Given its commitment “to those kinds of
investments”, Earnest said: “We want to make sure that there is also a
commitment on the part of the Indians and the other 180 or so countries
that have showed up to Paris to make serious down payments on cutting
carbon pollution”.

“A commitment to doing that is not
automatically in direct conflict with the kind of economic priorities
that many of those countries have identified for themselves,” he said.

Earlier at a New York Times Energy for
Tomorrow Event in Paris, Kerry describbed Modi as “a really interesting
leader who is appropriately seized by technology and by the
possibilities, and he faces this enormous challenge also”.

“India, a very poor country, has an enormous challenge of bringing Indians in to the modern economy,” he noted.

“Their baseline needs for energy
production to keep their economy going are what they are. And he doesn’t
have the luxury of cutting that off and then still growing and moving.”

“So we’ve got to help,” Kerry said.
“Everybody has to help. And there are ways we think we can help –
technology transfer, adaptation, mitigation.”

“There are things we can do. We really want a joint venture, work with India to try to do it just as we are with China.”

“We have an obligation, I think, to try
to do that, and we’re trying to work through the modality of how do you
present that, what’s appropriate, what can we do politically and what
can we do substantively. And we’re trying to get there,” Kerry said.